La Ciudad

4515 N. Sheridan Rd.

Chicago, IL 60640

773.728.2887

Type: Mexican

Fancy Shmancy Factor: 3/5
Price: Entrees range from $10-$16
Quality for price: 3.5/5
Ambiance: Minimalistic, casual
Other: BYOB (corking fee)
Neighborhood: Uptown

[Dan]
Rick Bayless ain't got nothin' on La Ciudad!

Okay, so Rick Bayless may boast some of the best Mexican/Latin restaurants in Chicago, but La Ciudad proves he doesn't own them all. It may not be as trendy or located in the best neighborhood, but this little Uptown gem could probably give Frontera a run for it's money. We have been wanting to try this place pretty much since it opened because it's incredibly close to my apartment-my kitchen window looks into the back of the place. So we decided to give it a try last Monday. After a successful trip to Trader Joe's the day before, we were stocked on good wines for cheap...and not just the "Two Buck Chuck" stuff (which is actually three bucks now). We had tried one wine in particular when we brought a bottle to a dinner hosted by our friends Matt and Chris at their house last year and loved it, so we got a few more bottles. And definitely plan on getting a few more. I'm predicting this will be our wine of the summer. It's called Vinho Verde and it's a really light, semi-sparkling white wine from Portugal. It's crisp, not too sweet, and best of all, it's $3.99 at Trader Joe's. On a side note, their vanilla granola is pretty darn good, too. But I wasn't very impressed with their sweet potato chips. That's a whole different blog, though...

Anyway, it's a Monday night, so we're not expecting much. I'm hoping it's going to be good because I could literally yell my order to them from my living room. While this is a major convenience for me, it's probably not the ideal location for La Ciudad (Spanish for "The City"). Don't get me wrong, I love Uptown and have been in this neighborhood for going on three years, but it's kind of 'sketchy' as some of my friends would say. It's definitely a 'storefront' restaurant with large windows in the front and very little privacy. So, probably not the place if you don't want to be noticed. Still, it works as a date place because it's relaxed and casual without feeling like a fast-food joint and they obviously take their food very seriously. Our server (and we're pretty sure the server for the whole restaurant) was Hugo and he was very knowledgeable and pleasant. They brought us chips and homemade salsas which were good and slightly above par for a Mexican restaurant in this city. Speed is definitely not their forte and we ended up waiting quite a while for our meals as we polished off another basket of chips we said we weren't going to eat. We weren't too bothered by this, mostlybecause we didn't have a whole lot else to do, the conversation was good, and when the food came, it was definitely worth the wait. I had the 'Carne Tampiquena' which was marinated skirt steak served with an enchilada, rice, and beans. Kristen had tacos, which came with three tacos and she ordered a different meat with each one (I'm glad to see I'm not the only indecisive one). It was all outstanding and although I think the skirt steak at El Mariachi on Sheridan and Broadway is the best I've ever had, this was a close second. Definitely worth a trip to Uptown if you're in the mood for a casual, delicious Mexican meal. And if you do find yourself having a meal at La Ciudad, give me a shout. Literally. If my window is open I'll invite you in for tea and strumpets...

Correction

It has come to our attention that National Hug Day was actually January 21st, not Tuesday of this week as mentioned in our last blog entry. Apparently, that old woman just wanted to give Dan a hug. And can you blame her?!

On a completely unrelated note (yet food-related and therefore relevant to this blog), we had a late-night bite at Hotel Felix downtown on Clark and Huron (the sign is enormous-you can't miss it). It's a hotel bar and restaurant so it's a little hoity toity but the menu is impressive. We met our friend, Andrea, there last night after dance class (Kristen) and Voiceover class (Dan) and split a burger. But this was no ordinary burger. Besides bacon (which we happen to think makes all food better), it was also topped with creamed leeks. It sounded strange to us but it tasted great. In fact, we took some convincing that there was no actual cheese on the burger because the leeks were so flavorful. Andrea ordered the $30 chef's week tasting menu but had such slow service that we had to leave before she finished. She's pretty sure it's because her name was on the ticket and the kitchen staff knows her since she works there as a bartender at Elate. But the food was good, and as long as you don't work there, the service is good, so it's definitely worth a shot for a date night. Or, better yet, go WITHOUT a date on a Monday night (industry deals for those who work at restaurants/bars) and hit on Andrea instead!

Tutto Italiano

501 S. Wells

Chicago, IL 60607

312.939.4824

Type: Italian
Fancy Shmancy Factor: 3.5/5
Price: Entrees range from $15-$20 for the most part

Quality for price: 2.5/5

Ambiance: Casual/romantic depending on dining room
Other: Closed on Sundays, outdoor sidewalk se

ating

Kristen: Everyone likes free stuff. And we are no exception. On Monday, Dan informed me that the next day was one of his favorite days of the year and told me to guess why. Now, I happen to know that Dan's

favorite day of the year is St. Patty's day hands-down and since that was a few weeks ago, I was stumped. "It's not Paczki day..." I began. "No, but you're on the right track." He finally informed me that Starbucks was giving away free pastries with the purchase of a coffee. Okay, so kinda free. But it didn't stop there! My best friend, Claire, who works at Navy Pier emailed to tell me that Ben and Jerry's was having a free ice cream day. Now we're talking. I hastily texted Dan to let him know the good news and he wrote back to ask if any place was giving away free insulin. Funny guy. Now, turns out it was also National Hug Day (who knew?!) so Dan also got stopped by and old woman on his way to work and received a free hug!

So we couldn't let the free stop there of course. We used a buy-one, get one coupon from a book my parents had given us to dine at Tutto Italiano in the South Loop.

When we first entered the restaurant, the interior was dark wood and loud music that made the place seem like a typical venue for after work drinks or pub fare. However, we were led through this bar area, past a cozy lounge area with leather chairs, into a train car with intimate seating for 2 and authentic Italian music playing. It was as if we walked through one restaurant to get to a completely different restaurant but we were pleasantly surprised. When the couple next to us commented on the locamotive dining room, the server told them that it actually moved as well. Fascinated, they asked how. "It depends on how drunk is the conductor" replied the server, using a joke he'd clearly used about 800 times before.

The servers "charm" was endless. When Dan tried to order a salad without tomatoes and onions, he shook his head sadly and said, "You know what they would do to you if you tried to order like that in Italy? Too big guys would come and grab you and they throw you outside but keep the chair. And that's in the north where they are polite. South, near Sicily, they shoot you."

Dan decided to go with the Penne Bolognese instead.

By the end of the meal, I thought that if he "pulled my leg" one more time, it was going to come off. He moved from telling us several times that if we don't finish, we will be charged double to insisting that they don't accept credit cards as we tried to pay with one (turns out they do accept them; this was just another one of his silly "jokes"). He did all of this with a completely straight face and hint of a smirk to clue us in that he was joking and this made it especially difficult to politely laugh at his unwelcome (and unfuny) jesting.
Oh yeah, there was food, too. Before the meal we were provided with the requisite bread and olive oil. When it came to entrees, as I mentioned, Dan had the Penne Bolognese, which was decent. It was a heavy dish and didn't have a lot going on besides the noodles and meat sauce but the flavor was fine. The lasagne I ordered left something to be desired. The layer of ricotta was too thick and overpowered the rest of the dish. The sauce was strangely sweet and some bites had a distinct "fishy" taste. Needless to say, we weren't very impressed.

The verdict: since the best part of our dining experience was the ambiance of the place itself, we don't suggest spending a ton of dough having a multi-course meal here. This would be a great place to meet for after-work drinks, wine, or maybe share some appetizers. To be fair, we found out later that the restaurant is known for their risotto and veal, of which we had none, so perhaps those menu choices would have changed our experience entirely. But to be safe, stick to a nice Italian wine and see if you and your date can get the train car moving.

Pars Cove

435 W. Diversey
Chicago, IL 60614
773.549.1515

Type: Mediterranean/Persian
Fancy Shmancy Factor: 3.5/5
Price: Entrees range from $10-$18
Quality for price: 4/5
Ambiance: Cozy and romantic
Other: Weekly specials, check website

We thought the sign in front of Pars Cove reading "Causal Dining" was merely a misspelling but now we're not so sure. For one, the dimly lit, intimate dining room wasn't quite what we would describe as a casual, jeans-and-a-tshirt type place. When we went for dinner last night, the place was hardly busy, especially for a Friday night, and we were ushered to a table for two in the corner. The small, below-street level dining room might have made us feel claustrophobic if it weren't for the fact that we were seated under large skylight windows. The authentic decor and music was as calm and unimposing as our server, who told us in barely more than a whisper that she would arrange for us to use a coupon we had on the Dinner for Two special we were considering.

This is where we got more than we bargained for. Emphasis on bargain. For $50, we ordered the Kabob Dinner for Two. That's 50 dollars total. The deal includes any two drinks but we opted to pay the 7 extra dollars to get a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, though the specialty martinis did sound delicious. After eating our two appetizer selections of hummus with naan and Persian potato salad, and then our course of Lentil soup and salad with Feta, we didn't know how we'd have room for the main course. However, we somehow managed to eat every bite of the perfectly tender chicken, lamb, and tenderloin kabobs as well as the dessert of baklava and ice cream. Since it turns out that their current Friday special is free after dinner drinks with a Dinner for Two, we ended the meal on a sweet note with a bit of Bailey's. And in case our desserts and cordials weren't sweet enough, our server delivered a single fresh rose when she dropped off the check, a sweet deal at about 50 total after our $9 coupon.

Though we didn't ask the owner of Pars (who frequently checked on us and helped serve us during our meal) if the spelling on the sign was intentional, we're now inclined to believe "causal dining" is exactly what he meant. The effect: Full stomachs AND full wallets.